September 10, 2022

La CROSSE, Wis. – After hitting below .100 in the first two sets Saturday afternoon in the final match of the Viterbo (Wis.) Tournament at Viterbo Activity Center (R.W. Beggs Gymnasium, Dakota State stormed back to a 3-2 thriller over Bethel (Ind.) of Crossroads League.  The Trojans earned its third victory over the NAIA's receiving votes teams this season.

Dakota State, which also received votes in the NAIA Women's Volleyball Coaches' Top 25 national poll, finished its challenging preseason tournament tune-ups with an overall record of 7-7.  Bethel, who defeated No. 9 ranked host school Viterbo (Wis.) in five-set thriller Friday evening, dropped their overall record to 8-5.

The Trojans finished 2-2 record in the Viterbo Tournament.

DSU plays its first home match of the season Wednesday evening as they open their 14-match North Star Athletic Association slate against their traveling partner, No. 12 Bellevue (Neb.).  The Trojans kick off their season-long five-match home stand with a 6 p.m. first serve at DSU Fieldhouse.

(RV) Dakota State (S.D.) 3, (RV) Bethel (Ind.) 2 – FINAL (15-25, 10-25, 25-21, 25-22, 15-9)

• The Trojans quickly opened the first set by scoring three straight points for a 3-0 lead., fueled by Riley Grandpre's kill followed by Jenna Frank's service ace, and a kill by Sydney Schell.
• Bethel went on a 7-1 scoring tear to take a 7-4 lead in the first set.
• Leading 13-10, the Pilots used a 7-1 scoring tear to widen their lead to 20-11 after a kill by Cheyanne Seymour. 
• Bethel secured the first set with a 25-15 win for a 1-0 match lead.  The Pilots outhit the Trojans 14-12.  DSU committed seven attack errors in 44 swings (.114 hitting percentage) compared to BU .343 hitting percentage (2 errors in 35 attempts). 
• The Pilots raced to an 8-1 lead in the third set and never trailed, cruising to a 25-10 victory and extended their match lead to 2-0. 
• Bethel outhit Dakota State 15-6 in the second set.  The Pilots hit an impressive .419 (2 errors in 31 swings) and held the Trojans to negative .061 hitting percentage (8 errors in 33 swings).
• Trailing 3-1 in the third set, Dakota State scored six straight points to take a 7-3 lead and forced Bethel to burn their first timeout.  Hannah Viet sparked DSU's scoring run with a pair of kills.
• With DSU leading 8-4, BU went on a 7-0 scoring run to take an 11-8 lead after Cheyanne Seymour's kill.
• Dakota State answered with a 6-1 run to regain their lead at 14-12 in the third set.
• Holding a slim 22-21 lead, Vanessa Schroeder fueled DSU's 3-0 closing run with back-to-back kills followed by Madalyn Groft's service ace for a 25-21 victory.  DSU extended the match into the fourth set.
• Bethel outhit Dakota State 16-13 in the third set.  The Pilots committed seven attack errors in 49 swings (.184 hitting percentage) compared to the Trojans three attack errors in 44 swings (.227 hitting percentage).
• Down 14-13 in the fourth set, DSU went on a 7-1 scoring tear capped by back-to-back kills by Brooklyn Grage for a 20-15 lead.
• The Pilots trimmed the Trojans' lead to 21-20 in the fourth set.  A kill by Grandpre, followed by Hannah Viet's block and a service ace by Maddi Langerock to set up a set point opportunity at 24-20.
• BU saved two set points, cutting DSU's lead to 24-22.  Grage closed the fourth set with a kill as the Trojans extended the match into the fifth and deciding set after a 25-22 victory.
• Dakota State outhit Bethel 15-13 in the fourth set.  The Trojans hit an impressive .306 (4 errors in 36 attempts) compared to the Pilots .250 hitting percentage (5 errors in 32 attempts).
• With DSU leading 3-2, the Trojans scored four straight points to widen their lead to 7-2 after Viet's kill.
• The Pilots answered with a 4-1 scoring run to trim DSU's lead to 8-6 in the deciding set.
• At 10-8, Dakota State closed the fifth set with a monstrous 5-1 scoring tear to secure a thrilling victory at 15-9.
• The Trojans hit .231 in the fifth set (5 kills with 2 errors in 13 swings) and held the Pilots to negative .056 hitting percentage (6 kills with 7 errors in 18 attempts).
• Dakota State committed 15 attack errors in the first sets compared to Bethel four attack errors.  The Pilots recorded 19 attack errors in the final three sets, while the Trojans had nine attack errors.
• Viet powered the Trojans' offense attack with 14 kills and hit .278.  She also had six blocks in the match.  Grage and Schell each added 13 kills.  Vanessa Schroeder had five kills. 
• Madalyn Groft and Maddi Langerock each produced 20 set assists for the Trojans.  Langerock had a double-double with 11 digs. She had two service aces.
• Peyton Groft collected 11 digs for DSU.  Schell and VonnaGail Schlechter each had seven digs.  Gwendolyn Vongkasemsiri recorded three blocks.
• Five Bethel hitters hit double-digit kills, led by Madyson Beaver and Seymour with 12 kills each.  Maddy Payne added 11 kills and hit .478.  Hannah Weiss and Isabelle North-Green each had 10 kills.
• Beaver posted a triple-double with 28 set assists and 18 digs for the Pilots.  Elise Schildermans added 17 assists and seven digs.  Jackeline Fernandez tallied 15 digs.  Paige Hickey had 12 digs.
• Payne led BU with seven blocks.  Michaela Whitaker added four blocks.
• Bethel outhit Dakota Stat 64-51 in the match.  The Pilots hit .248 (23 attack errors in 165 swings) compared to the Trojans .159 hitting percentage (24 attack errors in 170 swings). 
• BU collected 10 blocks compared to DSU nine blocks. 

Nick Huntimer, Dakota State University Sports Information Director